Brave
by Octavia Brown
Summary: A cranky Hokage, a bag of plums and an umbrella. Sasuke-POV. ShizunexYamato teaser.


A teacup skittered across the desk. Immediately after, one scroll and then another flew out of a drawer. The first knocked into a stack of documents creating a small flurry of papers. The second, finding no obstacles, clattered onto the desk and promptly rolled off and only stopped when it hit Sasuke's feet.

Sasuke bore the frenetic disaster in front of him with a stoic demeanor. Tsunade's drunken curses had become incoherent snarls nearly twenty minutes ago. The doors to her office were open and assistants hurried in and out. He could hear Shizune issuing orders down the hallway. Tonton had taken refuge under the desk a while ago. Outside light lanced across the gray clouds as rain thickened into heavy veil. Not quite half a minute later thunder rolled through Konoha, rattling the windows to the Hokage's office.

In a way Sasuke was in the calm of the storm and was in no hurry to leave it. Though he did skip back a foot when the desk was toppled over by an incensed Hokage. She stood up with an impressive glower, loose strands of hair in her face only added to the impression of unbridled anger. Sasuke kept his face placid and drew in a soft breath. If he wasn't careful he would laugh out loud.

The Hokage's pet pig scurried away from her destroyed hiding place and cowered behind Sasuke's legs. That, unfortunately, ruined the aura of not-your-problem that Sasuke had cultivated while Tsunade had destroyed her office looking for a letter. Tonton's movement had drawn Tsunade's eye to Sasuke's feet and they had subsequently snapped to his face. A line appeared between her brows as she looked confused, irate and cold all at once.

"You're still here?" she ground out.

Sasuke felt a ripple of irritation but he kept it at bay. "Before the message came you said you had something for me to give to Sakura." Sasuke stopped before adding something about coming back later, knowing he'd never be able to keep the sneer out of his voice. Tsunade could be inordinately ridiculous at times but her fists didn't mess around.

"Hmm." Tsunade's eyes softened and her gaze drifted to a point out the window, somewhere in the steady rain outside. Tsunade half-muttered, sounding like she hadn't really heard Sasuke speak, "yes, Sakura would be excellent for this detail."

Sasuke steeled himself. Whatever it was the Hokage needed delivered to Sakura, he would take it, complete the delivery and then he could finally return to the quiet and relative sanity of his apartment. Just a little bit more.

"SHIZUNE!" Tsunade bellowed as she stalked past Sasuke. She ignored the scowl that slapped itself over his face. "Shizune! Get that Nara brat here immediately!"

In a second Shizune appeared at the door. "Tsunade-sama, you know Shikamaru-kun is out on a mission. We dispatched the messenger to recall him only a half hour ago but they probably won't return until midnight."

Tsunade pressed her lips together. Abruptly Sasuke noticed that while Shizune took a soothing demeanor she stood out of arm's reach from the Hokage.

"I need a drink," Tsunade growled. "I'm going to look for it in my quarters," she announced to no one in specific. At Shizune's hasty protest she clarified, "The letter. I think I know where I left it."

Sasuke gave up trying to be patient. "In that case I-"

"You'll go no where, Uchiha! The plums and the letter Sakura needs are both in my quarters. Shizune, make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"Uhh, yes Hokage-sama." Shizune gave Sasuke an uncomfortable smile then flinched when the doors to the office slammed shut.

"Tch." Sasuke crossed his arms. He had committed himself publicly and privately to the service of Konoha as a way to make reparations for at least a part of the catastrophe he was responsible for, but this was ridiculous.

Shizune gave an uncertain cough and began to straighten up the office. Tonton ran to her and gave a wary little snort. She rubbed the pig gently behind the ears and sighed. "Sasuke-kun, this work is useless without the desk. Will you help me...?"

Sasuke heaved a sigh. He walked up to the tipped-over desk and grasped one side while Shizune took the other side. It occurred to him that he had no real idea how heavy it was. Just testing his grip let him know that the wood was solid and likely very heavy indeed.

There was a knock at the door before he and Shizune could make any sort attempt to right the desk. Shizune called to the visitor to enter.

The door opened and the man Sasuke had been instructed to call Captain Yamato entered. His eyes went wide immediately at the disaster around him. "Is...everything alright?"

"Oh, yes! Well, more or less. The Hokage got a bit...excited...looking for some correspondence from the daimyo from a few months ago. Anyway, no one was hurt!" Shizune's face was a bit too bright and the smile she wore was clearly forced.

Yamato eyed the mess and then matched Shizune's smile. Sasuke felt his scowl grow deeper as his jaw twitched. Yamato spoke gently, "Shizune-san, you must be very brave to stay so close to a woman as...eh...passionate as the Hokage."

"Oh-heh." Shizune gave a little giggle and the smile was now true enough. "I'm not brave. Just used to her, I think."

"Well you do work many others would be too afraid to face every day. That seems brave to me."

Before Shizune could respond and the little love-fest could go any further Sasuke cleared his throat. He felt that facing a hazard like the Fifth Hokage on a daily basis was more an indication of derangement than courage but he kept that to himself. He nodded to the desk.

"Oh, yes." Shizune looked a little flustered. "Sasuke-kun and I were about to try to stand the desk back up. I wonder, Captain Yamato, if we might have your help?"

Yamato's smiled deepened. "It would be my pleasure. But first, here are the files the Hokage requested." In his arms he had cradled a half dozen dark brown folders with seals keeping them bound. ANBU records, Sasuke guessed. Yamato passed them to Shizune. Sasuke momentarily wondered if he should help in some way, but then Yamato spoke again. "This will be easier if you take a step back, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke quieted the vestiges of his teenage rebellion that bristled at being told what to do and stepped out of Yamato's way. If he didn't have to strain himself to clean up after the Hokage, so much the better. Unobstrusively he engaged his Sharingan and observed as Yamato made the handseal for a wood jutsu. Even though he could see plainly how it was done, earth and water chakra mixed inside the man and came out as wood, he couldn't replicate it. He couldn't even really grasp it with his mind. Like the wind, Sasuke knew it was there but couldn't hold it in his hands.

Out of Yamato's outstretched palm a tree branch stretched and split and split again, wrapping around the desk as it grew, pushing at it until it began to tilt. The branch continued to grow until it was a thick bramble, and it pushed inexorably at the desk until it was forced upright. Then, just as steadily, the branches shrank away back into Yamato's hand.

"My hero," murmured Shizune.

There was a bit of pink on Yamato's cheeks. Sasuke rolled his eyes. The cheer in Yamato's voice was cloying. "You're the heroic one, Shizune-san, serving Tsunade-sama directly."

_Oh no, not this again!_

Shizune giggled and shook her head. "You really are too much, Captain Yamato!"

He smiled. "Well if that will be all...?"

She nodded and smiled. "Y_e_s, thank you."

"Well then," Yamato nodded to each of them and left the room.

Shizune looked around the room and drew in a deep breath. "Well, I guess there's nothing left but to clean up." She set the ANBU files on the table.

Shizune made a sound like a smothered giggle as she set about picking up scattered scrolls and loose papers. "Brave, indeed. I don't suppose you think I'm heroic, do you, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke felt a momentary jab of envy for Yamato, after all he got to leave. Silent, he nudged piles together with his feet. There just wasn't any point to trying to organize someone else's office.

"I guess not, then. Heroes are the people who do things that are too hard or scary for you to do, after all." Shizune stood straight, arms at her sides and looked at Sasuke directly. Her voice was clear and unaffected, "And there's nothing much you'll admit to being scared of, is there, Sasuke-kun?"

Her face was too open and kind to turn her gaze into a stare, but she looked at Sasuke steadily and he refused to look away. Exactly how had this become about him?

"Fear stops a person. To do what I had to I put aside my fear." Sasuke stared back at Shizune openly.

But Shizune was unabashed and determined. "Do you always do that with your fear? Or do you ever stop, as you say, seize up, or give up on something that you wanted because you are afraid?"

She was going somewhere with this. It was irritating and making Sasuke impatient. "Say what you want to say."

"I was just wondering, Sasuke-kun, who are your heroes?" Her face was harmless, not even exceeding the boundaries of politeness. She returned her attention to her documents. "Who does the things that you find too difficult?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He didn't think of anyone that way and he wasn't in a hurry to find any heroes in his life. They always let him down. He contemplated simply leaving the office, let Tsunade level whatever punishment she would. But he imagined that the right-hand woman to the Hokage would have to be capable - and he didn't really feel like going all out against her anyway. He did the next best thing: he put his hands in his pockets and watched Shizune silently. Outside rain pattered on the windows.

She only glanced at him once as she moved about picking up errant scrolls and gathering the shattered pieces of a tea set. After a few minutes Tsunade returned with several objects in her hands. Judging from the large smile on her face and color high on her cheeks she had found more to drink and possibly the missing letter.

"Oh good, you're still here, Uchiha." She held out a sack made of green netting which contained roughly a dozen plums with an unsteady arm. "These are for Sakura. Don't eat any!" By her slurring and odd inflection it was clear Tsunade had had one too many. "Don't shake your head at me, boy!" she suddenly shouted.

Sasuke took the plums. "I thought you had something else for Sakura, but if-"

"Oh yes, don't interrupt me when I'm not done." Tsunade slurred but something in her eye made Sasuke think she had not lost her senses. Shizune had moved to help unburden Tsunade and gave Sasuke a weak smile. "Now they're a thank you gift to Sakura for work she did in Earth country over the summer, so don't eat 'em! Someone noticed she likes plums and she earned 'em!"

Sasuke was committed to his patience. He would bear this as the very paragon of endurance. Boddhisattvas would learn from him. He was quite proud of himself for not taking the sack of plums and bludgeoning anyone with them. If Sakura could see him she would think he was a saint. The tension in his hand that fought against making a fist was beginning to hurt.

"I will not eat them." Somehow he managed not to grind his teeth. He glared at her meaningfully.

"Eh?...oh yes, also this." Tsunade handed him a piece of paper folded into squares. It bore the imprint of the daimyo pressed into red wax. "It's part of her instructions for her next mission." Tsunade didn't let go of the letter even though Sasuke had it in his grip. Instead she leaned into him and he could plainly smell the sake on her breath. "Don't read it." She growled.

"I wasn't planning on it." He growled back.

"Don't be a brat," Tsunade admonished, finally letting go of the letter. "And don't let it get wet either. Sakura has to return it to the daimyo." Tsunade turned to her desk. In the distance there was more thunder.

Yet again Sasuke wanted to see about leaving but he bit his tongue.

A shrewd look came over Tsunade's face as if she recognized his enforced silence and rather liked it. Then she gave a dismissive snort and a glassy sheen came back to her eyes. "Well go on then, I'll need her in here at midnight when Nara gets back."

Something about her demeanor told Sasuke there was something else. When it didn't come he shifted his weight to leave. He'd turned halfway when Tsunade finally spoke again.

"Don't mess this up."

Sasuke was too surprised to be angry. "Is there some element to delivering a letter and a dozen plums that leaves that much room for error?"

Tsunade was at the window, looking out on the drenched village. Shizune had quietly moved to a corner and cradled Tonton. "You know what I mean. When you see Sakura." She stared at the window and Sasuke understood she was watching his reflection. "Watching you run from her is getting painful."

It took all of Sasuke's discipline not to scowl or issue a denial that would cut back at the woman in front of him. It was a good thing he had kept a carefully placid face. Tsunade's features tightened and she turned back toward him. "You want to get on this mission, Sasuke." She indicated the letter in his hand and the ANBU folders.

Sasuke kept his face even, but he was confused. He wasn't ANBU. He was rarely even allowed to leave the village.

"Shikamaru and Sakura will put two teams together, one to be seen and one to be unseen. You would be good on the second team. You'd back up your teammate protecting an important figure." Tsunade peered at him, all traces of impatience and alcohol gone from her. "It's time you stopped wasting time on missions too simple for most genin squads. But you need to have the team on your side. And you can't build the experience without the rapport and you can't build the rapport without the experience."

Sasuke studied the Hokage's face quietly reflecting on the implications.

Her eyes glimmered with mischief. "You'll have to learn to play nice with others." Abruptly Tsunade took her seat. "Now go on and get those plums to Sakura. They've traveled a long way." With that she pulled the ANBU folders to herself and seemed to push Sasuke out of her mind.

Sasuke didn't for a moment think she wasn't paying careful attention to him. He gave a tiny fraction of a bow, the greatest his pride would allow, acknowledged Shizune, and departed from the office.

Before heading into the rain Sasuke tucked the letter well into the wrappings on one arm, under the bracer. He extended his senses and looked for a particular chakra signature. He wondered if he should have asked Shizune or Tsunade if they had any idea where she might be. Deciding they would have told him if she was on a shift at the hospital, he cast about for her in other locations. After a couple of minutes he found her on a street heading away from the library. He dug a toe into the earth and launched himself into the storm.

Sakura scurried down the street, trying to avoid the largest puddles. Her large umbrella was clear plastic but with a red trim and it let Sasuke identify her at once. Her feet were clearly soaked but so far she had managed to keep herself dry above the knees. She carried two books held tightly to her chest. Sasuke hadn't hidden his chakra and he dropped unceremoniously in front of her.

She gave a start and recoiled from him for a moment with a sharp, "Sasuke-kun!"

He felt a twinge of bitterness at her reaction but it was mollified when she yelped "you're soaking wet!" and lifted the umbrella so they could both fit under it. Her heat was humid. It made him feel a bit clammy. _Just hand the stuff over, then home. So close._

"The Hokage told me to deliver this to you." He held up the fruit.

Sakura goggled at him and the fruit. "Plums? Why is she giving me plums? Or rather, why did she send you in the rain to give them to me instead of waiting till it clears up?"

Sasuke had to admit that was good point, though one that may have meant he didn't get to make the delivery. "They arrived for you just little bit ago from Earth country. They're a thank you gift."

Realization dawned on Sakura's face. "Maki! That sweet man. He remembered!"

Sasuke's stomach curdled. He had imagined she might make friends in Earth country while she traveled teaching chakra healing on the sort of peculiar mission that was both diplomatic and a show of strength that only Sakura seemed capable of pulling off. But meeting men was rather a different story.

"Well anyway they're for you." Sasuke pushed the plums at her.

Sakura fumbled with her books and the umbrella. Finally she passed the umbrella to Sasuke so she could arrange the sack and the books in one arm. There was a lightning spark above and after a long delay the thunder cracked on the other side of the rain. Sasuke longed to be warm and dry.

Sakura took back the umbrella with a smile. "Maki had an orchard - or has, of course! He promised to send me his late season plums." She grinned at Sasuke. "I helped his wife when she gave birth. Their son was..." Sakura shook her head giggling. "Well he was a big boy. I guess he's even bigger now. But the poor woman - Ren - had a lot of trouble in the last few weeks. I told them Makoto was keeping everyone on their toes before he was even born!"

Sakura's joy moved around Sasuke, under the umbrella. He relaxed a bit and felt warmed by her smile. Without a thought they began walking in the direction of Sakura's apartment.

"But jeez...plums in the rain?" Sakura peeked at Sasuke. "Let me guess, Tsunade-sama has been drinking for the better part of the day. And probably making you run all sorts of silly errands."

"Aa." If it weren't for Sakura's amused tone Sasuke would have been surprised at how she spoke of her master. Sakura was usually a little defensive of the Hokage's many foibles.

"I can just imagine. Rainy days always put her in a bad mood."

They walked in silence for another block. Rivulets flowed down the street and water splashed out of over-full rain gutters. It wasn't too bad like this, under an umbrella with Sakura, thought Sasuke. There was something else he was supposed to think about but whatever it was it didn't seem like a high priority.

"Um...Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice was shaky. Sasuke wondered if it was from a chill. "You don't have to walk me to my apartment if you don't want to. Unless..." Her look of concern was overtaken by a smile of discovering a solution. "Unless you would like to borrow my umbrella. Uh...if you like."

Her uncertainty gave Sasuke pause. Every time she asked him if something happening a certain way was as he liked it, or if he might prefer something different, or checked if something was ok with him he just wanted to scoff and walk away. But when she was certain, like when she realized how to fix a problem, Sasuke felt like he could look at her for days and feel only warmth and comfort.

Then he remembered the letter. "You have a mission," he said abruptly. "You have to meet the Hokage at midnight."

"Midnight?!" Her baffled look was actually a bit on the endearing side. "Wow she must really have been plastered."

"She was, but it's also when Shikamaru returns from his mission. You have a letter from the daimyo that explains several of the details." Sasuke tapped his left arm bracer. "I put it in here to keep it dry."

Sakura was staring at him. "The daimyo." She forgot to close her mouth. She forgot to keep walking. She glanced at Sasuke's left arm, which was still raised, then looked back at his face. She really was very cute right at that moment.

Sasuke couldn't resist. He just couldn't. He reached up a hand and gently placed two fingers under Sakura's chin to urge it closed. Naruto was clearly rubbing off on him. He gave her a brief half smile that most of Konoha - most of the world - wrote off as a smirk.

Sakura's beautiful green eyes were still as large as saucers. "I have a mission from the daimyo?" Her voice shook.

Sasuke couldn't really see what the big deal was. Sakura worked directly for the Hokago on a daily basis. She had undertaken missions with the Kazekage and represented Konoha in diplomatic matters all over the shinobi world. Suddenly working for a civilian was more exciting?

Sasuke shrugged. "Want the letter now? Tsunade said it had to stay dry in order to get back to the daimyo in the same condition it was in earlier today."

Sakura grew even more pale. "A letter that has to be returned?" She sucked in a breath. "I think I know what this is!" She bit her lower lip.

Sasuke wondered if it was a put on, if she knew how attractive that was. Kunoichi did take classes on confounding men, after all.

"Oh my god, Sasuke-kun... This is huge. And I'm taking lead with Shikamaru?" She raised an arm to bring the books up to cover her mouth. "I shouldn't be talking about this," she hissed. "Oh my gosh," she muttered to herself.

Sasuke was, at long last, beginning to be a little curious about the mission. ANBU and not ANBU, two teams, headed by a combat medic and a tactician. A letter from the daimyo with written instructions that may have been used repeatedly, something important, possibly diplomatic but with a great potential for real fighting... something like...

"The wedding. His daughter's wedding." Sasuke said.

"Huh? You know?"

"I guessed it. Tsunade made a mess of her office getting everything prepared."

Sakura snickered lightly. "I bet. The daimyo has people around him who prepare well in advance but have to wait on his say so to actually do anything. So she might have known this was coming but was given the notice at the very last minute." Her face sobered. "But putting me in charge. I'll have to put the teams together with Shikamaru. He'll come up with the strategy but I have to make all the calls." Her voice trailed off and her eyes grew unfocused.

"Tsunade said you would be excellent for it." Sasuke thought that Sakura could easily meet and probably exceed all of the task requirements, as he understood them, but saying so felt weird. "So far all of the objectives sound like the sort of thing you do all the time."

Sakura looked at something that Sasuke couldn't see. She still looked more pale than usual. "But this is for the daimyo! This is...well...it doesn't get more VIP than that. This is as prestigious as it can get, why would Tsunade think I can do it. The lead has to be graceful and politically savvy, strong, brave and even be in some pictures with the royal family! I... I'll just screw it up!"

"No. You won't." Of this Sasuke was certain.

Sakura suddenly gave Sasuke a considering look that made him want to stand up straight and wipe every trace of interest off his face and replace it with cool indifference. "If you were present to all of that then Tsunade-sama wanted you to know about this mission."

Her voice dropped as if she was thinking out loud, "yes, I see. This is the kind of mission that you could go on in the shadow team. It would definitely be something worth your talent." Sakura returned her gaze to his face and resumed speaking at a normal volume, "This is your chance, Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn."

"Hn? Don't 'hn' me! You've been dying for a real mission since you were allowed off probation! Or at least I could have sworn you felt cat retrieval missions were beneath you. Maybe I was wrong and you were hoping to spend the rest of your life gardening and picking up litter?"

"Hn."

Sakura scoffed and resumed walking. "That's just like you, to turn your nose up at the perfect opportunity. Maybe the cats are teaching you more than anyone thought?"

Sasuke thought briefly of Granny Cat and tiny smile wormed its way onto his face. It occurred to him that he could dig out the letter and pass it to Sakura then. He could go home at that point.

On the heels of that thought was the wild idea that instead of walking Sakura home he could take her out to eat.

The idea gripped Sasuke almost viscerally and he felt his stomach clamp tight and his throat constrict. He couldn't invite her out, he thought desperately, she had to prepare for a mission. He found it hard to breathe. He needed to get away from her. He didn't realize his hands were in tight fists until Sakura spoke.

"What's the matter, Sasuke-kun? You've gotten all tense."

He stopped walking. "I should give you the letter." And then go home, he completed silently. His hand was still somewhat damp and wiping it on his soaked shirt had the opposite result of what was intended.

Sakura waited beside him just a few inches away. Her skin was milky white and Sasuke could see the hairs on her arms starting to stand up. She would have been home by now if she hadn't kept stopping for him.

She spoke gently, "Sasuke-kun? Maybe it's better if we got somewhere dry first." She motioned with the umbrella and the books and plums. "My hands are a little full. I'm sorry, I'm making you wait to get home." Her face looked completely remorseful. She really did think she was at fault for something.

"Tch." He managed not to sneer and he was glad. "You look cold. Let's go." He turned back to the road and the smeared view of the buildings outside the umbrella.

Sakura gave a soft laugh and Sasuke looked at her. "You're one to talk, Sasuke, you're soaked to the bone and look like you haven't had any rest or anything to eat in hours."

"Hn."

"Oh here we go again."

The exasperation in her voice made a wry smile force its way onto his face. He was unreasonably glad she couldn't see it. The idea came again - there was a tea house just around the corner that she would like. His mouth almost hurt with how hard he forced it into a frown. There was a pressure in his chest like a fist made of cold granite was squeezing his heart.

Movement caught his eye and he watched Sakura adjust her grip on the umbrella as she started to walk again. It was suddenly clear to him that he was nervous. The feeling was just too intense. Sasuke thought again about just getting away.

_This is fear._

The thought was as clear as lightning in his head. A wave of cold shot through him and Sasuke realized it was true, he was afraid. He wanted something but he was scared he might be denied so he avoided seeking it.

_"Fear stops a person."_ That was what he had said to Shizune. He made a face. He had meant it in regard to the resolve to get something momentous done like avenging a clan or...he thought of Naruto claiming he would be Hokage one day. He had always assumed the idiot was just impervious to the knowledge of how foolish he looked. When Naruto had finally asked Hinata out he had been doing a handstand at the time.

The tension in Sasuke's arms shot up tenfold. So Naruto was more brave at even this trivial thing than he was. He sneered. Unlike the loser he wasn't so weak that he needed a girl by his side to feel better about himself.

_Not need, want. You want this._ I can do without, he thought to himself, I always have. _Stubborn and afraid, maybe she's better off without you._

"Tch." Sasuke folded his arms and ignored the rain that was now reaching one shoulder. He stared at the ground in front of him as if it had offended him.

"Um...Sasuke-kun? Is something-"

"Sakura." Sasuke turned to her so suddenly she gave a tiny "eek!" and bounced off his chest. "Will you..." trecherous hands twisted his stomach painfully. Pinpricks of ice and heat sprouted under his skin, shooting from his chest and down his arms. "Do you want..." The urge to turn and transport away was almost overwhelming. He fought it back with everything he had.

"Would you like to stop to get some tea with me?" Sasuke was aware his heart rate was accelerated; he was sure there was color on his cheeks that wasn't there a minute ago. He forced his breathing to an even tempo even though it made him feel lightheaded.

The look of shock on Sakura's face almost made him take it all back and flee, perhaps to immolate himself with a fully loaded chidori blast to the chest. But then she smiled.

Sakura's smile was like the sunlight splitting the clouds. It was a bonfire on a cold, black night. It was the scent of food after morning training. Sakura's smile was a bleary day coming into focus finally and Sasuke could see clearly past all the insanity and thrown desks and plums from new fathers and feudal lords wanting both a photogenic and respectable show of force and a merciless, lethal contingent in a security detail, and he could finally see his goal in her smile.

Sasuke smiled back.

Sakura grinned briefly but then dropped her gaze. Cold swept over Sasuke in the absence. "Sasuke-kun, I would love to. However, you really are dripping wet. You'll catch cold if you stay out much longer. Also, it would be a little bit rude to the tea house to bring the rain in."

Sasuke cursed himself, the rain and the tea house for good measure.

"But...you could always offer a raincheck." Her sly smile was much too much like the Hokage's to let Sasuke feel comfortable. "For today we could just pick up something at the tea house to take away. I can wash your clothes at my place and I have some old robes and things you can borrow in the meantime. The offer to borrow my umbrella once I get home still stands."

Sasuke would normally say "hn" here but felt awkward about it. Her counteroffer... was quite reasonable. But he still wished for his original idea.

Sakura shook her head and laughed lightly. "You still want to go to the tea house and sit in your sopping clothes, don't you?"

"No, it's ok." He responded. He wanted to hate how easily she could read him, but it seemed like to great an effort at the moment.

"So...?" A small smile played on Sakura's face and a light danced behind her eyes. Sasuke wanted to stare into her face forever. "Sasuke-kun, would you like to come over to my house for some tea? You can dry off and rest." After another pause where Sasuke couldn't be bothered to respond Sakura continued with a faintly annoyed tone. "Sasuke-kun, either say 'yes, Sakura, I would like that' or 'no thank you, Sakura' but say something before we both get pneumonia!"

"You're cute when you're annoyed."

That was not at all what Sasuke was intending to say and he was horrified to hear the words come out of his mouth. But there they were, in his mind, a thought that had been playing itself over and over in his head as she prodded him toward a response.

Sakura looked surprised all over again. And then she pressed her lips together so hard they turned white. Sasuke was beginning to fear he had gone over the line when a laugh pushed Sakura's lips back open. "Tsunade-sama has been saying Naruto is having an effect on you. I didn't think it would come out as teasing me." She sounded slightly rueful and Sasuke felt a little bad about that. Also, he was going to have to watch out for just how much the idiot rubbed off on him.

"Tea to go sounds fine, if you let me buy you some dango."

"But, I thought you didn't like sweets."

"You like it, dummy. I'm buying it for you." Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

Sakura still looked a little bewildered but the smile on her face allowed Sasuke to assume she was happy. "I..." Sasuke thought she was pushing the umbrella at him so he took it from her hand. But he watched as Sakura's hand continued to travel the distance between them, trembling ever so slightly. When her fingertips landed on his chest she stopped moving. Then she traced a tiny circle directly over his heart. He didn't want to break the spell so he didn't move, he barely breathed.

Then Sakura lifted her fingers from him and looked up to his face as she dropped her hand to her side. Voice barely above a whisper she said, "I've wanted to do that for so long."

Sasuke knew the feeling.

When it felt safe to do so, Sasuke turned toward the tea house and held the umbrella with one hand, carefully in between them.

* * *

Yup that's it. As I was writing I was fighting off the desire to keep going through the whole plot - this is just supposed to be a quick fluff piece and it's nearly 6000 words long! If you really want to know about the wedding security plot, assume Sasuke had his hands full keeping everyone safe, Sakura had to be very shrewd as well as able to evade the groping hands of certain drunken guests of the daimyo. But it ended well, only the bad guys got beat up, Sakura produced an antidote for poisoned punch, Shikamaru lazed his ways through the shadows to disrupt a coup d'etat and, oh what the heck, at the end Sakura and Sasuke shared a big ole smooch!

Just a break from everything. I had been trying to write over the weekends, but picked up more work Fri-Mon. I actually ended up writing most of this yesterday because I was sick! Anyway, I'll get back to Detention Ninjas and Transitions soon. DN is actually my focus because it's so hard to write. But it's coming, one way or another.


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